Bollywood's beautiful: Ash, Hrithik dazzle Dubai

Three countries in 36 hours can exhaust even the most ardent frequent flier, but for Indian actors Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, it’s all in a day’s work when their film is set to hit the marquee.

So even while sporting red-rimmed eyes and the “Bombay flu”, both Bachchan and Roshan, respectively, jetted into Dubai for a few short hours on Wednesday, before heading to the airport once again to catch a flight for London to promote their new film, “Guzaarish” (Desire).

“It’s all part of the job isn’t it? I mean you get paid to this, coupled with the fact that if you love what you do then it ceases to become taxing work,” said a visibly ill Roshan, trying hard to be comfortable in the plush Park Hyatt surroundings. “And I can’t really complain considering I barely do one film a year.”

For Bachchan, “Guzaarish” is her fourth release of the year, with the actress flying into Dubai last week for the world premiere of her film, “Action Replayy”, along with co-star Akshay Kumar.

But she laughed off the remark that juggling a healthy work-life balance in this chaos is difficult, saying: “You slot time for shoots, promotional campaigns and family, otherwise you will be all over the place, running ragged. And I have been, truth be told, considering I’ve been all over the place this year.”

Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is also co producing the epic drama with UTV Motion Pictures, “Guzaarish” sees Roshan play a magician who is severely injured when a performance goes awry, leaving him wheelchair bound as a paraplegic. Bachchan comes into his life as a caregiver and an emotional bond gradually forms between the two. However, things come to head when Roshan’s character makes a request to be allowed to die through an act of mercy killing.

“Mercy killing is a very difficult and sensitive issue to take a stand on, but I strongly believe it is a subject that requires a platform,” said Roshan, who admitted that this movie taxed him emotionally as an actor and an individual. “Nobody wakes up one fine morning and requests to be allowed to die. But what compels that person to make such a choice should be respected and given a forum to be heard.”

Bachchan agreed, saying that it’s such a sensitive issue that there can never be a right or wrong answer, “but that does not mean we dismiss the person completely. We should hear them and try to understand what has driven them to make such a choice in life. But ultimately, who are we to make a choice for the person in question any way?”

 Roshan and Bachchan, who have previously appeared together in the hit films “Dhoom 2”and “Jodha Akbar” are quite confident that their third outing will also prove successful.

“It is not so much as for the fact that it’s the hit pairing of Hrithik and Ash,” said Roshan, adding, “But rather the fact that the film talks about how one should live their life with passion and experience even the smallest joys to the fullest.”

A look over at Bachchan and she simply nodded, saying: “I can only agree.”

The film is scheduled to release in UAE cinemas on November 18.